Deadly European heat wave to last till September

A deadly heat wave in Europe blamed for deaths, drying rivers and scorching wildfires could last through September, experts say.

Belgium's Royal Meteorological Institute predicted it could reach 40?C on Thursday -- the highest temperature it has ever forecast since the institute's founding in 1833.

The toll of deaths blamed on the blistering temperatures or on fires fed by the heat stood at 37 by Wednesday night.

Weather from Italy's state-funded CNR research center said the heat wave was among the five worst in the last 150 years and would likely last until September. Intense monsoon activity in Africa south of the Sahara also was blamed for Europe's merciless summer.

Europe hit by hot air from northern Africa rather than the usual weather patterns that come in from the Atlantic, said Captain Alessandro Fuccello, from the Italian air force's meteorology office in Rome.

High-temperature have been broken in several French cities, and London, where betters wagered on just how high the mercury would rise, registered its highest-temperature ever Wednesday, 35.4?C.

Wildfires, fanned by hot winds, were reported in Croatia, Greece, Spain, Portugal and France.

Few of life escaped the heat wave, which was particularly oppressive because air conditioning in homes and shops is uncommon in much of Europe.

On the Croatian island of Pag, residents were banned from washing cars, watering gardens or taking showers at beaches.

About of 47,000 fans of the soccer team Ajax who came to an open-house day on Wednesday in Amsterdam received first aid after feeling sick or dehydrated.

A British Airways Concorde was forced to make an unscheduled stop on Wednesday in Gander, Canada, because hot air, with its higher pressure, meant more fuel was needed.

A highway swelled in Germany, and trains were moving slower the last few days in Britain for fear the tracks might buckle in the weather, which was unusually hot in Britain.

Other like Spain, are more accustomed to sizzling summers, although this hot spell has been exceptionally long. A high-pressure system has been hanging over southern Europe for more than two months.

Spanish TV and radio broadcasts were urging people to drink lots of water, limit exercise outdoors and wear loose-fitting clothing.

The stretch of Danube passing through the Balkans dropped so low that wrecks of World War II boats became visible.